Kingdom Hearts: Hearts of Darkness
by keyblademaster avenger
Summary: Set after the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ansem the Wise now has seven apprentices under his tutelage. One of them is a brilliant young man named Xehanort. When Xehanort finds a mysterious creature underneath the castle, it sets in motion a chain of events that will lead to betrayal, heartbreak, and the birth of a Organization... Rated T for reasons.
1. The Apprentinces

**_Hello, everyone! Here's the first chapter of Hearts of is a sequel to my Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep story so if you haven't read it, please do. Thanks._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts_**

 _"Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that. I am blessed with people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand. I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times. Darkness…darkness of the heart. How is it born? How does it come to affect us so? As ruler of this world, I must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness."_

Ansem the Wise set his pen down and leaned back in his chair. Someone knocked on his door.

"Enter." Ansem the Wise said. A young man about 18 stepped into the room. He had silver hair, wore a white lab coat, and black pants. "Master Ansem?" he said.

"Yes, Xehanort, come in, come in." Ansem the Wise said. "You wanted to see me?" Xehanort asked. "Yes, can you bring all the apprentices here? I have something to ask you all." Ansem the Wise said. "Right away, Master Ansem." Xehanort said.

As Xehanort shut the door to Ansem the Wise's study, he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey there, Mister Master."

Xehanort sighed. "Braig." he said. "Master Ansem would-"

"No need to repeat it." Braig said. "I overheard everything."

Xehanort turned to look at the man. He had short black hair, wore a guard's uniform, and a tattered red scarf around his neck. He also had a eyepatch on his right eye and jagged scar on the left side of his face along with his usual mischievous grin he constantly wore as if he knew something everyone else didn't.

"Don't you ever get tired of eavesdropping?" Xehanort asked. Braig simply shrugged. "What else is there to do here?"

"How about doing your job?" Xehanort said. "Like anything's gonna happen here." Braig said.

Xehanort sighed again. "Fine. Now if you'll excuse me I need to find the others."

Xehanort continued to walk off then turned back to Braig. "By the way, did you see the one new apprentice? The girl?"

"You mean Ria?" Braig said. He shook his head. "No."

"Ria!"

Ria ran through the streets of Radiant Garden clutching her books to her chest as she hurried to the castle. She waved to her friends, Lea, Isa, and Laina, who had been calling her name. "Talk to you guys later!" she yelled to them.

Ria hurried up the steps saying hi to Kairi's grandma, Kairi, and Sakura who were leaving the castle. Ria quickly ran into the castle catching up to Dilan and Aleaus, the two guards who protected the castle.

"Sorry, I almost forgot we had meeting today." Ria said. Dilan and Aleaus looked at each other and didn't say anything. The three of them went to Ansem the Wise's study and found Xehanort and Braig there along with Even and Ienzo two scientists who worked in the castle.

Once everyone was there Ansem the Wise spoke. "As the seven of you know, I been considering doing an experiment to solve the darkness of the heart." The other apprentices all nodded.

"I have set up a machine." Ansem the Wise said. "That will allow us to explore the depths of a person's heart. The only question is who can handle such an test?"

Xehanort stepped foreword. "Why not me sir?" he said. "If you explore my heart perhaps we'll be able to unlock my memories."

"Yes…" Even agreed. "This can lead us to find out about Xehanort's past. I prepose we experiment on him."

Ansem the Wise looked deep in thought. "I will consider it and get back to you all tomorrow. Until then, not a word of this to anyone."

The seven apprentices nodded and left.

 **So how was it? Was it good? Review guys. Thanks!**


	2. The Creature of Darkness

**Hello, everyone! Here's a new chapter for Hearts of Darkness! It's been a long, long time since I updated this so I'm sorry about that. But anyway enjoy the chapter! Reviews and really appreciated so I can make sure this story doesn't suck.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or 4 certain character that appear in this story later...**

* * *

"So, what happened with Ansem?" Lea asked Ria. The two of them were sitting in the town square with Laina and Isa eating sea-salt ice cream. Ria shook her head. "Can't tell you." "Come on." Lea persisted. "Nope." Ria said.

"You know you want to tell us." Laina said. "Guys, I really can't." Ria said. "Whatever." Laina said with shrug. "We'll find out sooner or later."

"Anyway," Ria said getting up. "I just remembered that I have to go pick up my little brother from a friend's house. I'll see you guys later." As she walked off, Laina looked at Lea and Isa. "Wonder what's she's hiding." Isa said. "Something tells me we'll find out soon enough." Laina said staring at the castle.

* * *

Ria continued to walk through the streets of Radiant Garden. She stopped in a front of a house and knocked on the door. A woman with dark hair and skin answered the door. "Hello, Ria." "Hello, Mrs-." Ria said. "Ah, ah, ah." the woman said. "I told you to simply call me, Julie." Ria laughed. "Of course."

"Please, come in." Julie said. Ria stepped inside. "I'll go get your brother." Julia said walking off. "Make yourself at home."

Ria wondered around the house looking at the pictures on the nearby table stands. She noticed something hanging on the wall in the living room. It looked like some sort of sword. It had blue swirls at the hilt, and the blade looked like a red sword with points of yellow at the tip as teeth. At the chain was a gold star. Ria adjusted her glasses and stepped closer to the mysterious sword.

Julia walked into the living room with Kota. "Okay, Ria, here's your…" She stopped when she noticed what Ria was looking at. "…brother."

"May I ask what this is?" Ria asked examining the sword closely. "It looks familiar." Julia's skin paled for a second before she regained her composure. "Oh, that's nothing." she said. "Just a old decorative for the house passed down from my family." Ria nodded and looked over the sword again. "Hmm."

"Anyway," Julia said. "I just remembered I'm late for something and I need to get ready. So if you'll excuse me…" And with that, Julie shooed them from her house. "Wonder what that was about." Ria said.

"Ria?"

The young apprentice turned to her little brother. "Yes, Kota?" "When we get home can you make me my favorite food?" "Macaroni and cheese?" The little boy nodded happily. Ria giggled and patted his head. "Of course."

Ria turned her head back briefly to the house. _"That sword…"_ she thought. _"I know I've seen it somewhere before."_

Julia made sure Ria and Kota had walked off before she pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. "Hello?"

 _"Julia? Sweetheart? What's wrong?"_ a voice answered.

"Ria came by the house today to pick up her brother, David. As they were leaving the house Ria noticed it and started asking questions."

 _"…how much does she know?"_

"I only told them it was a old decoration for the house."

David sighed. _"Look I'll be home soon. We'll talk about it later."_

"All right." Julia said. As she hung up the phone she put her face in her hands and shook her head worriedly. "They can't find out. We've gone so long trying to forget about what happened."

* * *

The next morning, Ansem the Wise brought in his seven apprentices. "Thank you for coming." Ansem started to say. "I've thought about this and…I've decided to cancel the experiment."

"What?!" Xehanort said with a surprised look on his face. Even looked just as shocked. "But Master Ansem, why?" "It is simply too dangerous, Even." Ansem replied.

"Master Ansem, please, reconsider." Xehanort said. "Think of what we could accomplish if we preformed this experiment. All the possibilities." "Enough, Xehanort." Ansem said.

"But-"

"No!" Ansem yelled at him. "End of discussion."

Xehanort looked at Ansem with a slight glare in his eye and then bowed. "I'm sorry, Master Ansem. Please excuse me…" And with that, Xehanort stormed out of the room.

While Ria had been standing quietly with her head down and her eyes wide at what happened, Braig had simply smirked, Dilan and Aleaus had serious unreadable expressions on their face, Even looked even more shocked, and Ienzo didn't say anything. Ansem the Wise rubbed his eyes and sighed before dismissing the rest of his apprentices.

As the six of them left, they ran into Xehanort who was standing there with his arms crossed. "Well," Braig started to say. "What do we do now?"

"Simple." Xehanort said. "We preform the experiment without Master Ansem's approval." The other apprentices voiced their opinion at the same time.

"Hmph. This ought to be interesting."

"Are you mad?"

"Hmm…"

"…!"

"…"

"Are you serious?"

Braig was smirking again, Dilan looked at Xehanort like he was insane, Even was pondering the suggestion, Aleaus was speechless, Ienzo didn't say anything, and Ria looked at Xehanort, not sure if the man was joking or not, though she was positive he wasn't. In the time that she's known him, he's been rather serious about everything he does.

"You would go against Master Ansem's orders?" Dilan asked Xehanort.

"Radiant Garden is a peaceful town is it not?" Xehanort asked. "And Ansem the Wise wants to unlock the mysteries of the heart to learn how to keep it that way. The only way to do that is through discovery. And discovery requires experimentation."

"Where would we even preform these tests at?" Even asked. Ienzo lifted up his head. "There is a secret lab down in the basement of the castle, just past the computer room. I know the password."

"Excellent." Xehanort said. "And our test subjects are already down there." "Who?" Ria asked. "People who have broken the law have been locked down there. It's only reserved for the most dangerous criminals." Braig explained.

Xehanort smiled and looked at Aleaus and Dilan. "You two head back and guard the castle doors. The rest of us will wait until Ansem leaves his study and go to the lab." Dilan and Aleaus nodded and headed back to the castle doors.

* * *

David Katzroy opened the door to his house. "Julia?"

"David!" Julia said.

"You said, Ria looked at the Keyblade?"

Julia nodded. "What if someone finds out who we are? What if-" "Julia, sweetie, calm down." David said. "Listen. No one is going to find out about us. No one even knows who we originally were. We were given a chance to escape our previous lives and start fresh, so let's focus on the lives we're living now." Julia nodded and hugged him.

* * *

Later during the day when Ansem was out of his study, Xehanort, Braig, Even, Ienzo, and Ria sneaked into the computer room. "What are the passwords?" Xehanort asked Ienzo. "Our names." Ienzo said.

"But there's only six passwords on here." Ria said looking closely at the computer. Braig smirked. "Maybe Ansem forgot to add Even's name. Can't really blame him though. He is pretty forgettable."

"Haven't you heard of respecting your elders?" Even grumbled under his breath.

Xehanort typed in everyone's names and a seventh password was required. Xehanort typed in Ria's name and the door leading to the basement was opened.

Xehanort turned to Even, Ienzo, and Ria. "You three wait here in case Ansem returns." While Ria and Ienzo nodded, Even protested. "What?" he said. "Unacceptable! I'm going with you!" "You need to stay with Ienzo and Ria. Ansem would be unhappy if something happened to Ienzo and his new apprentice right?" Xehanort said./ Even grumbled reluctantly but stayed behind as Xehanort and Braig headed down to the basement. Once they reached the lab they found the machine already set up. Braig opened the door leading to the cells where the worst criminals of Radiant Garden lived.

As Braig and Xehanort approached one cell, the man inside glared at both of them and asked gruffly, "What do you want from me?" "Nothing much." Xehanort said. "Just for a chance to help you get out of here and be a free man again."

"I'm listening." the man said. "All we need is to preform a simple test." Xehanort said. The man looked at him suspiciously. "What kind of test?" "A simple psychological test." Xehanort answered. "All right." the man said warily.

As Xehanort opened the door, Braig pulled out one of his arrowguns and waved it in front of the man. "Just remember to not try anything. Got it?" The man nodded and Xehanort and Braig led the man to the machine. As the man laid down on the chair, Braig strapped the man's arms and Xehanort turned on the machine. A small red beam fired from the machine to the man's chest. The man's eyes widened and he screamed. "T-turn it off! Please!" He began to plead. "Please!"

"Should we turn it off?" Braig asked Xehanort. "Leave it on." Xehanort said. As the man continued to scream and beg he eventually fell unconscious. As Xehanort turned off the machine, Braig checked the man's pulse and was surprised to not find one. "What do we do now?" Braig said. "Lock him back up in his cell and don't tell Even or the others what happened here." Xehanort said.

As Braig dragged the body back to the cell, Xehanort began to write down notes of what happened. When Braig came back, he and Xehanort walked back to the computer room where Even, Ienzo, and Ria waited. "How did the experiment go?" Even asked. "It did not go as expected." Xehanort said. "I'll have to check the results later."

* * *

The next morning…

Xehanort walked down to the basement of the castle when Ansem wasn't in his study to get his notes which he had forgotten yesterday. As he grabbed them, he heard a scratching noise coming from one of the cells.

As Xehanort approached the cell and opened the door, he saw a small dark creature with antennae and bright yellow eyes crawling around like a shadow. Xehanort eyes widened when he saw the creature and he hurried to add to his notes.

 _The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle._  
 _Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness...What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?_

* * *

 **Heartless are Radiant Garden now! Yay! So how was the rest of the story? Good? Bad? Terrible? Let me know, please! Thanks! Also, if you watch this show, I put in a Agents of Shield reference in it! See if you can spot it!**


	3. Chapter 3: Experiments

**Hello everyone, and welcome to the 3rd chapter to Hearts of Darkness. Is it good? Don't know. Personally feel like no one likes this story. But any reviews help ya know. Feedback guys. Really need some. Anyway, en** joy.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, a certain Disney character made by Alex Hisrch, or anything in this story except my OC's.**

* * *

Over the next few days, Xehanort continued to study and was learning more and more about the mysterious creatures of darkness. He had been going to preform more experiments on the prisoners, but strangely almost all of them were gone, being slowly replaced by shadow like creatures scurrying around.

Xehanort had theorized that the creatures flattened themselves and had crawled underneath the door to other cells. He pulled out his notebook and began to write.

 _"The shadows that crawl beneath the castle…are they the people who lost their hearts or are they incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination? All my knowledge has provided no answer._

 _One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart. Fortunately, there are no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report._

 _They still need a name. Those who lack hearts…I will call them the Heartless."_

Xehanort put down his pen and examined a nearby cell where the two prisoners were. One briefly glanced at him before he turned his attention to something crawling around. Xehanort took a closer look and noticed a Shadow Heartless crawling around inside. Xehanort looked to the other prisoner to see why he wasn't responding to the Heartless. Turns out the man had died a few days ago. The Shadow Heartless briefly turned to the dead prisoner and sniffed at him before lunging at the other man's chest, clawing at it. The man's eyes widened and screamed in agony.

As the man passed out, his heart left his body and vanished into thin air. The man's body then was covered in darkness. When it cleared a Shadow Heartless emerged leaving behind no trace that the man was ever there.

Xehanort immediately the nearest clipboard and pen and began to write again.

 _"The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace._

 _I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves._

 _Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral principles. Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them? It's just occurred to me: Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?"_

Xehanort put the pen down again, and sighed. How was he going to solve the mysteries of the heart by himself? Sure, he had Braig to help him, but that wasn't enough. He knew what he had to do. Besides, maybe they wouldn't react that bad…

* * *

"What in the world?!"

Xehanort sighed and rubbed his eyes. Or maybe they would.

"What is the meaning of this, Xehanort?" Even continued to say. "I demand an explanation!" "Calm down, Even." Xehanort said. "This was necessary for-"

"Necessary?" Ria spoke up. "Is the study of the heart really worth all this?! Your experiments are getting out of control!"

"ENOUGH!" Xehanort yelled. "Need I remind everyone why we're doing this? For the greater good of Radiant Garden and it's citizens! So, no matter how cruel these experiments may be, or how immoral they may get, I ask you to help me study these creatures of darkness so we can protect our home!" The others looked at each other before reluctantly agreeing except for Ria, who angrily walked off.

As the others observed the Heartless, Braig pulled Xehanort aside. "Uh, we got a bit of a problem." he said. "We're all out of prisoners. Who are we gonna use for test subjects now?" "That little problem will be taken care of soon, Braig." Xehanort said. "Very soon."

"Still," Braig pointed out. "Couldn't hurt to get a few now, right?" "I suppose." Xehanort said. "Go then, and take Dilan and Aleaus with you."

Braig grinned and gave a half wave as he walked off. "Will do." The smirk on Braig's face continued to grow as he left. He knew just what kind of "volunteers" he should get. "This should be fun…" he thought.

* * *

Next morning…

"Ria!"

"Huh?" Ria snapped out of her thoughts to see Lea, Isa, and Laina looking at her worriedly. The four friends were once again sitting in the town square eating Sea-Salt Ice Cream along with Kota and Jae.

"You okay?" Isa asked. "Sorry," Ria apologized. "My mind's on other things." Lea put a hand on Ria's shoulder. "Eh don't worry about it too much," he said. "Besides we've got bigger things to worry about! Like who is living in that tower outside Radiant Garden."

Jae frowned at Kota. "You told?" he asked. "It just slipped out!" Kota defended himself. "Besides, since they know maybe they can help us!"

"We're not going to help you." Ria said. "Why not?" Kota whined. "Because you aren't going." Ria said. "You're lucky enough Jae's being allowed to even sleep over tonight." "No fair!" Kota said pouting. "You do realize that it's too dangerous to go all the way there, right?" Ria said. "What if someone got hurt?"

"She raises a good point." Laina said. Lea rubbed Kota's head messing up his brown hair a bit. "Don't worry, little man." Lea said. "Your sister and us will go look for you. Maybe Arlene and the others will go with us to help us out."

"We could just go by ourselves. Or not at all." Ria said not wanting to go anywhere with Arlene. "Can't do that." Lea said.

"And why not?" Ria asked.

"Safety in numbers. Plus we can't let down your little brother." Ria just rolled her eyes at Lea's response. "Whatever, fine. Still don't want to go with Arlene." "Well, we wouldn't even need to ask her, if Nia and Ventus were here." Lea said.

 _"Nia would know what I should do about Xehanort…"_ Ria thought. _"I wonder what she's up to?"_

* * *

In the Realm of Sleep…

"Ugh…" a girl with purple hair said. "I've been walking forever!" She was being followed by a little dog. Or cat. She still wasn't clear on what the animal exactly was.

Nia knelt down and rubbed Meow Wow's head who whined happily. "I wish someone could help us out. But who could possibly know a way out of here?"

The wind suddenly picked and Meow Wow growled. A bright light shone in front of Nia, making her cover her eyes.

As it cleared she heard someone yell, "I THINK I KNOW A GUY!"

Nia looked to who spoke and gasped. "What the hell…?" Out of everything she's seen in her life, she hadn't seen anything so…weird.

* * *

 _Later on that night…_

 _Knock, knock_

Julia rubbed the sleep from her eyes and answered the door. "Yes? May I-" She gasped. "What are you doing?"

"Grab her."

A muffled scream was heard before Julia passed out on the floor.

David ran into the living room where the scuffle had taken place. "Julia? What is-Braig? Aleaus? Dilan? What are you all doing here?" He glanced down and saw his wife lying on the ground. "What'd you do to her?!"

A bright flash of light appeared from his hand and the key-shaped sword from the wall appeared in his hands.

Braig raised his eyebrows and laughed. "Knew there were more of you out here!" He turned to Aleaus and Dilan. "You know what to do." The two men nodded and with one swipe knocked the weapon from the man's hands and knocked him unconscious.

"Take them back to the castle." Braig said as he picked up the Keyblade from the ground. "Well, now…this should make things much more interesting." Braig chuckled and headed back to the castle not seeing the person off in the distance who had witnessed the whole thing.

* * *

 **And that was chapter. Crappy right? I know it was. Next chapter: Lea and the others gear up to find out just who the hell lives in the tower outside Radiant Garden, Nia gets an offer she can't refuse, Ria must decide what to do about Xehanort, and David and Julia's origins are revealed. Not that anyone cares about this story.**


	4. Meteor Shower

**Hello, hello, everyone. Yeah, You're seeing this right I actually updated this story in less than a week. Shocker, huh? Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Remember kiddies, reviews and feedback always help!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Gravity Falls, or the Anime/Light Novel Date A Live. Just my numerous OC's.**

* * *

Nia looked in surprise at the being that floated in front of her. In all her life she had never seen anything so odd, so peculiar, so…weird.

"Hey, what's the matter, Short-Stuff, you never seen an talking, floating triangle before?"

The being snapped Nia out of her thoughts. Taking a good look at, Nia saw that it was a yellow triangle. It had skinny, black limbs, wore a black bow and top hat along with a yellow cane, and glowed whenever it spoke.

"Uh…" Nia started to say, "Sorry, um…"

The triangle spun it's cane around. "The name's Bill Cipher. How ya doin'?" Nia was still slightly speechless. "Um…"

"Oh, I get it. Still freaked out a little, huh?" Bill asked. "Well, not to worry! I'm actually here to help you out!" "Really?" Nia asked.

"Yeah, I can help you leave the Realm of Sleep." Bill said. "That's great!" Nia said. "Whoa there, Eager." Bill said. "For helping you, I only ask for a small… **FAVOR** , in return."

Nia eyed Bill suspiciously. "What kind of favor?"

Bill waved his hand. "Eh, it's not important. We can work out the details later. So…" He stuck out his hand and it glowed with a blue fire. "Do we have a deal?" Nia briefly looked at him, before looking at Meow Wow. The small dog/cat creature was growling at Bill.

Nia turned back to him. "No. No deal."

Instead of getting mad, Bill just pulled his hand away. "Hey, it's fine. I can always find someone else." He eyed Nia. "But if you ever change your mind, I'll be here for you. Ready to make a deal!"

He began to float in the air. "Remember! Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold! Byyyyeeeee!" And with that Bill vanished.

Nia blinked in confusion. "What the hell just happened?"

* * *

 _"Julia, you have to run. You have to leave!"_

 _"No! I won't leave you here! I'll fight beside you!"_

 _"Listen, when the time comes, and there is war, you and your friends mustn't fight, but instead fly away from here to the world outside!"_

Julia awoke with a start, sweat running down her forehead. She tried to move her arms but found that she couldn't. "Where am I?"

"You and your husband are in the deepest part of the castle."

Julia turned her head and saw David lying unconscious as well as a young man in a lab coat approaching them with Braig who was smirking.

"Who are you?" Julia asked. She glanced down and saw the man holding the Keyblade that was in her house. "And why do you have that?"

"My name is Xehanort." the man said. "And I was hoping you could tell me where you got such a marvelous weapon." "I'll never tell you!" Julia said. She struggled to move and reclaim the Keyblade.

Braig laughed. "It's no use." he said. "Those restraints are on so tight, you can't move an inch!"

Xehanort stepped closer to Julia and eyed her. "So, I'll ask you again: Where did you get this weapon?"

Julia looked Xehanort in the eyes and found something familiar about the intense gaze he was giving her. She had seen it once before when she had fought a man with a black coat and a terrifying Keyblade. Her eyes lit up with recognition. "Luxu?"

Xehanort froze. "What?" Julia repeated her question. "Are you Luxu?" Xehanort grimaced and grabbed his head in pain.

"Hey, uh, are you all right?" Braig asked. "I'm fine!" Xehanort snapped. He stumbled from the room. As he left he called back, "Braig! You know what to do!"

Braig grinned and turned the machine on. Xehanort heard Julia and David's anguished screams as he left.

* * *

"You want me to _what_?"

Lea stood in front of Arlene who was looking at him like he was an idiot.

Lea sighed. "I'm taking Isa, Ria, and Laina with me to find out who lives in the tower outside Radiant Garden. I need you and the others to go with me."

"Hmm." Arlene twirled her knife between her fingers. "What's in it for me?" "I don't know." Lea said. "I'll convince Myde to be your "sparring" partner."

Arlene smiled at that, picturing Myde being her target practice. "All right." she said. "We'll help you." Lumaria ran up to them out of breath.

"What's wrong with you?" Arlene asked. "Something happened at the Katzroy residence." Lumaria said. "What?" Lea said.

The three of them ran towards the house where they found the door kicked in and furniture scattered everywhere. "Damn, what did all this?" Arlene asked.

They heard a gasp behind them and saw Ria standing there with Kota and Jae. "What happened here?" Ria asked. "And where are my parents?" Jae asked. "Are they all right?" "I don't know." Lumaria said.

"Excuse me." someone said stepping into the house. "I saw what happened."

The person stepped closer and Ria and the others saw that it was a teenage girl. She was dressed in a school uniform and part of her black hair covered her left eye. Her other dark red eye stared at the others.

"Who are you?" Ria asked. "Oh! I'm sorry." the girl said. "I forgot to introduce myself. How rude of me." The girl bowed slightly. "My name is Kurumi Tokisaki. Nice to meet you all."

After Ria and the others introduced themselves, Jae turned to her. "You say you know what happened?" he asked. "Yes." Kurumi said. "Last night, a group of men came by the house, broke in, and dragged two people away."

"What?" Jae said. Kurumi nodded. "Along with a Key-shaped sword." "Key shaped sword?" This perked Ria and Lumaria's attention. "Where did they take them?" Lumaria asked. "Last I saw, they were headed for the castle." Kurumi said.

"We have to get them back!" Jae said. "No, _I_ have to get them back." Ria said. "Jae, you and Kota are staying here."

"But they're my parents. I have to do something!" the little boy protested.

"It's too dangerous."

"But-"

"You're _staying_." Ria said firmly. A faint flash of darkness emerged from her arm. Jae looked at the ground in defeat. "Fine."

"Thank you. Lea, can you watch after them until I get back?" Ria asked. "You can count on me." Lea said. "Thank you." Ria said before leaving.

 _"All right, Xehanort."_ she thought. _"What have you done now?"_

* * *

Ria hurried back to the castle and found Xehanort and the others working in the lab studying a cell intensely. "Xehanort!"

Xehanort held up a finger to silence her. "Busy."

"No, answer me!" Ria said. "What did you do to the Katzroy's?" She noticed two creatures with bright yellow eyes, long claws and antennae. "What is that?"

"Powerful Heartless created from David and Julia." Xehanort said. "I call them Neoshadows."

"Wait, you mean that's them?" Ria asked horrified. "What happened to using volunteers?"

"We had to move on to using test subjects." Even said.

Ria shook her head. "What is _wrong_ with you people?! I don't want anymore part of this!" "Then leave." Xehanort said coldly.

Ria stormed out of the lab. Xehanort sighed. "Everyone pack up. We're done for the night."

* * *

Ansem the Wise was sitting at his desk, writing down notes and enjoying Sea-Salt Ice Cream, when he heard a knock. "Enter."

Ria stepped in. "Ah, Ria. What can I do for you?"

"Pardon me for interrupting you, Master Ansem. But I think there's something you need to see…"

* * *

Xehanort wandered the halls alone carrying a cage with a small shadow Heartless inside. After everyone had left the lab, he had decided to let a Heartless roam the halls and see where it went.

Pulling out his notebook and pencil, Xehanort opened the cage and watched as the Shadow Heartless stepped out. It wiggled it's antennae and scurried off with Xehanort close behind it. The Shadow stopped, looked around, and scurried off in a different direction. Xehanort had been so engrossed into following the Heartless he hadn't realized he had went into the deepest part of the castle.

The Shadow Heartless once again stopped and it's antennae began vibrating. A bright flash of light appeared in front of Xehanort making him cover his eyes. When he opened them he saw, a huge mysterious door with a keyhole on it, standing in front of him.

Xehanort stepped towards the door. "Fascinating." he whispered breathlessly. He grabbed the handle on the door and gave it a slight pull. It didn't appear to be unlocked, so Xehanort opened the door fully. What he saw on the other side mystified him and made him immediately shut the door again. He quickly rushed off to add to his report.

 _"To study the Heartless behavior, I picked one out for observation. It wiggled it's antennae and, as if sending a target, headed deep into the castle. In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something. Suddenly, a strange door appeared. I'd never known of its existence. It had a large keyhole, but didn't seem to be locked. So I opened the door. What I saw on the other side mystified me. What was that powerful mass of energy?"_

As Xehanort continued to write he failed to notice the streaks of light flying across the sky…straight towards Radiant Garden.

* * *

"What is this? Ansem the Wise looked around at the lab. "This is where Xehanort is performing his experiments on the heart." Ria explained.

Ansem looked at the cells where the Heartless were contained and glanced at the reports Xehanort had wrote. Looking closer he noticed that each report had his name on the top. Ansem shook his head and slammed the papers back on the table.

A rumble shook the castle. "What was that?" Ria asked. "I don't know. Quickly, head back to the top of the castle!" Ansem said.

As the two of them headed back to the main floor of the castle, Ria looked outside a nearby window and gasped. Outside multiple meteors were crashing into Radiant Garden.

"Kota!" Ria tried to run out and find her brother but Ansem stopped her. "You can't go out there!" "But I have to find my brother!" "Ria, if you got out there you could die! You have to stay here!"

Ria sighed and looked up at the sky worriedly. "Kota…please be safe!"

* * *

Lea led Kota, Jae, Arlene, and Lumaria into a nearby building while avoiding the meteors. "Get in, get in!" he yelled.

"Wait!" a young voice cried out. Lea saw Kairi and Sakura leading Kairi's grandmother to the house as fast as they could. He helped them inside and told everyone to stay down. Kairi and Sakura clung to Lea's legs and cried.

* * *

"Isa, come on!" Laina yelled. "I'm trying!" Isa yelled back. The two teens avoided the meteors flying around them as best as they could but it was difficult with the buildings being hit and dust kicking up.

"Look!" Isa said. "There's a building that's been left opened!" He pointed and Laina saw a house that had it's door opened. As she and Isa started to run towards it, Laina heard a little girl crying. She looked around and saw a girl cowering in the middle of the ground crying.

Laina quickly scooped the little girl up and as she ran asked the girl, "Hey, what's your name?" The little girl hiccuped. "M-Marlene." "We're gonna get you someplace safe, okay? Laina said. Marlene nodded and Laina and

Isa ran inside the house. As Laina set Marlene down, she heard someone say, "Who the hell are you two?" A blonde haired man who looked to be in his early thirties scowled at the them.

"Laina! Isa!" Myde cried. "Myde!" Laina said.

"You know these two?" the man said. "Yeah, Cid. They're all right." Myde said. Cid scoffed. "Fine." He walked off to check on the kids.

"So you're here too?" Isa asked. Myde nodded. "Along with Squall, the others, and Rould."

Rould was leaned against the wall and shuffled a deck of cards in his hands. "It seems the odds were in your favor." was all he said. "So everyone's all right?" Laina said. "Not exactly." Myde said. "Leon said Tifa's missing. She said she had to find Barret."

"Tifa?" Laina said. "I have to find her!" "You can't go back out there!" Isa said. "I have to!" Laina said. She ran out the door.

As she ran through the streets of Radiant Garden she heard someone yelling. Laina headed towards the sound and as she got closer, she could hear the conversation.

"…don't care about the danger, Tifa! I ain't leaving here without my little girl!"

Laina saw a young 13-year-old girl talking to a older, dark-skinned man.

"But Barret-" Tifa started to say. She stopped when she noticed Laina. "Excuse me." Laina said. "Sorry to interrupt but are you looking for a girl named, Marlene?" "Yes!" Tifa said. "Do you know where she is?" Barret said.

"Yes, I can lead you there. Come on, hurry!" The three of them hurried back to the house.

* * *

Xehanort watched from inside the castle, amazed at the meteor shower. He quickly grabbed his pencil and notebook and began writing again, looking up at the sky every so often.

 _A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may be the ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observations of the Heartless. The Heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core. That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too-the heart of this world. There is no proof, but, having felt that immense energy, I am certain. That was the heart of the world. The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from all living creatures, but from the planet itself. But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?_

* * *

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are appreciated.**


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